The parasitoid wasp family Ichneumonidae is arguably one of the groups for which current knowledge lags most strongly behind their enormous diversity. In a five-day meeting in Basel (Switzerland) in June 2019, 22 researchers from 14 countries met to discuss the most important issues in ichneumonid research, including increasing the speed of species discovery, resolving higher-level relationships, and studying the radiation of these parasitoids onto various host groups through time. All agreed that it is time to advertise ichneumonid research more broadly in the scientific community and thereby attract young talents to this group for which specialists are sorely lacking. In order to popularize the group, we here suggest a new name for the family, “Darwin wasps”, to reflect the pivotal role they played in convincing Charles Darwin that not all of creation could have been created by a benevolent god. We hope that the name catches on, and that Darwin wasps start buzzing more loudly across all disciplines of biology.
An account of the Antonio Giordani Soika Eumeninae collection housed at the Natural History Museum of Venice Giancarlo Ligabue is presented, following its recent reorganization. A list of identified species, with the count of specimens, is provided, as well as details on type specimens. With over 21,000 identified specimens and 2,756 type specimens from all zoogeographical regions, the collection covers over 60% of the world’s Eumeninae species. Several incongruities emerged during the verification of type specimens. A brief history of the collection is presented, with comments on Giordani Soika’s activity.
A new species of the Afrotropical genus Genaemirum Heinrich, 1936 is described from a single female specimen from Guinea and compared to the closest species, G. rhinoceros Heinrich, 1967. Genaemirum filipazzii sp. nov. also provides the first record of the genus for West Africa. An updated key to the species is included.
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